Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

Offstage,

Zhou Xun wore a polite smile. She won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress this year for her role in "Perhaps Love". She came to the Golden Horse Awards aiming for the double Best Actress award, and after the nominations were announced, she was indeed the biggest favorite.

Now that I've lost the election, it would be a lie to say I'm not disappointed.

"Perhaps Love" was a film she made with all her might. She did all the singing and dancing in this musical film herself, and lost eight pounds while filming. She won the Hong Kong Film Award and thought the Golden Horse Award was a sure thing.

As a result, the Best Actress award went to a nineteen-year-old girl.

But all she could do was applaud and congratulate.

Because she knew who was behind this nineteen-year-old girl.

Zhuang Huai'an.

That director who won the grand slam of the three major European film festivals at the age of 22, that second-largest shareholder of MGM, that young man who holds countless resources and connections.

"The Hearing Girl" is his film, and Liu Yifei is the leading actress he personally promoted.

This film won the Berlin Golden Bear, the Hundred Flowers Award, the Tokyo International Film Festival, and now the Golden Horse Award.

It's obvious to everyone that Zhuang Huai'an is determined to elevate this girl to the top of the Chinese film industry.

Should I argue with her?

How do we fight for it?

After the Best Actress award was presented, the ceremony continued.

The presenter for the Best Actor award went on stage.

After opening the envelope, Liang Jiahui's eyes flashed with surprise. He smiled and handed it to Liu Jialing, then read into the microphone in a deep voice:

"The Best Actor award at the 43rd Golden Horse Awards goes to Zhang Shi! For 'Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils'!"

The audience erupted in applause.

Zhang Shi sat there stunned for two seconds, then suddenly stood up, covered his face with his hands, and his shoulders trembled.

Chen Musheng, who was standing next to him, stood up, smiled, gave him a hug, and kept patting his back to remind him.

Zhang Shi came to his senses and lowered his hand. His eyes were red, but he didn't cry. He took a deep breath, shook hands with everyone around him, and then walked onto the stage.

He trembled slightly as he received the trophy from Liang Jiahui. Liu Jialing gently patted his arm and whispered, "Congratulations, Ashi."

Zhang Shi bowed slightly in thanks, walked to the microphone, stood for a few seconds to calm himself down, and then spoke.

"Thank you Golden Horse Awards, thank you to the jury."

His voice was hoarse but tinged with excitement. "I'm 40 years old this year and have been acting for over 20 years. It's really unexpected and I'm very happy to be standing here today."

"Last year, Director Zhuang Huai'an specifically asked me to play the rich second generation in The Big Shot. This year, he gave me the script for Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils. He said: Zhang Shi, Zhao Tai did a good job. The role of Zhou Chu is also yours. Take the script back and study it carefully. Don't embarrass me."

Zhang Shi's voice was slightly choked, but he remained composed:

"On set, Director Chen Musheng was very strict, and Director Yuan Kui was very ruthless in his action direction. I suffered a lot and got injured a lot, but every time I wanted to give up, I would remember Director Zhuang's words: Don't embarrass me!"

Today, standing here with this award, I want to say to Director Zhuang: Thank you for your trust; I have not let you down!

He raised the trophy and bowed deeply in Zhuang Huai'an's direction.

Zhuang Huai'an clapped his hands gently, a smile on his face, and nodded slightly.

Speaking of which, this year's Golden Horse Awards can be described as Chuang Huai-an's personal showcase.

In addition to his personal guidance, the eight-nominated film "Hearty Girl" and the screenplays for "The Blood of Guanyin" and "Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils" are also included.

Of these two films, "The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful" was nominated for Best Director and Best Actress, while "Zhou Chu Eliminates the Three Evils" was nominated for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Director.

Meanwhile, all three films were nominated for Best Picture. How much of this was due to merit and how much was due to personal connections is perhaps only known to Wu Dun.

The process continues, and with the Best Actress and Best Actor awards already passed, only two core awards remain: Best Director and Best Feature Film.

As usual, the awards were distributed among the winners: Kwan King-pang won Best Director for "The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful," and "After This Our Exile" won Best Feature Film.

"Hearing Girl" won no awards other than Best Actress, but Zhuang Huai'an didn't care. He had already collected the Golden Horse Award stamps, and his goal for this trip was Best Actress, which was exchanged for two top-notch scripts.

As for the other awards, they were nothing more than scrap metal to him.

What you can't have is the sweetest.

So here's the question: what happens after you get it? (laughs)

At the banquet following the awards ceremony, the couple went their separate ways, surrounded by a large group of people from the entertainment industry.

Ning Hao, who won the Best Original Screenplay Award for "Stone", couldn't help but sigh as he looked at Zhuang Huai'an, who was surrounded by a group of big names like a star.

Some people, once missed, are gone forever.

After dealing with everyone, Zhuang Huai'an was pulled by Jay Chou to the terrace outside the banquet hall.

"What?"

"Have a chat with me."

Jay Chou let go of the railing and leaned against it. He took out a pack of Long Life cigarettes from his pocket, put one in his mouth, lit it, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled. The smoke dispersed in the night wind.

Zhuang Huai'an leaned against the railing next to him and looked him up and down. His baseball cap was pulled low, covering half of his face, but you could still tell that he didn't look well. There were faint dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well for several days.

"Lun, what's wrong with you? Where's your former high spirits? You need to straighten up!"

Jay Chou glanced at him, but remained silent.

"No, what's going on?" Zhuang Huai'an was a little confused. Was this guy crazy, standing here?

"Nothing's wrong, I was just feeling stuffy, so I brought you out for some fresh air."

Jay Chou, smoking a cigarette with a melancholy expression, shared his thoughts: "Recently, I've come to love this feeling. Smoking on the balcony, I smoke half, and the wind smokes the other half. I don't argue with the wind; maybe it has its own troubles too."

"But when I think about it carefully, why should the wind smoke my cigarettes?"

"Uh..." Zhuang Huai'an couldn't help but blurt out, "So, you just started acting crazy?"

These jarring words instantly broke Jay Chou's defenses, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes at him, "Damn it, how did you even manage to make the emo trilogy with your brain circuits?"

Seeing that he had returned to normal, Zhuang Huai'an burst into laughter, snatched the cigarette from his hand, and lit one with relish.

"Lun, I'm not trying to discourage you, but just by looking at the lyrics you wrote for the rice terraces, I can tell you really don't have the makings of a literary youth. Take my advice: it's okay to be depressed, but don't pretend to be a literary youth. You can't pull it off."

"Tch," Jay Chou scoffed, "Don't just criticize me, why don't you do it yourself if you're so capable?"

"I'll do it! Step back, I'm about to show off!"

With a cigarette dangling from his lips and his eyes slightly narrowed, Zhuang Huai'an pondered for a moment and then blurted out, "Leaning against the railing, inhaling the smoke, half entering the breeze and half entering my throat, I ask not where the breeze goes, for even the breeze knows human sorrow."

"Holy crap! You're really good at this!" Jay Chou was immediately shocked.

"Of course, you think Lin Bei is joking with you?"

Zhuang Huai'an tilted his head slightly, looking smug. Does he not understand the value of nine years of compulsory education? This kind of half-vernacular, half-classical doggerel is something that any book lover who has read a lot of novels can recite a few lines of.

"If you don't act so pretentious, we can still be good friends." Jay Chou rolled his eyes at him and then fell silent.